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"It's all very well claiming the title and getting millions of visitors every year, but in the end it's a false claim – the place only has one lake.

"It is just so beautiful around South Norwood, we really are London's answer to the Lake District."

Cumbria Tourism conceded that it did only have one official lake but insisted it was renowned for its famous tarns, meres and waters.

A spokeswoman said: “They are right. We do only have one lake.”

However, Ian Stephens, managing director, derided South Norwood’s waters as mere “ponds” and said the suburb was not a patch on the famous Lakes.

"We have England's longest lake in the shape of Windermere, England's deepest lake, Wast Water, 14 other lakes and hundreds of meres, tarns, and other bodies of water,” he said.

"I'm sure the ponds of South Norwood have their merits and it is flattering that they wish to emulate our natural environment, albeit in a modest way.

"However, I don't recall South Norwood being immortalised by great poets like Wordsworth and W.H. Auden and I can't believe that it will be a substitute for the magnificent natural environment to be found here in Cumbria.

"So citizens of Norwood, please get yourself to Euston Station and in under three hours you can treat yourself to a slice of the real Lake District."

Mr Bone acknowledged that the letter had been sent to Cumbria Tourism “with a wry smile” in a bid to attract more visitors.

The SNTB was formed by three friends in a pub last year, with the aim of organising a series of walks and talks around the area.

They want the South Norwood Lake renamed the Conan Doyle Lake after the Sherlock Holmes author who reputedly used to play cricket by the lake between 1891 and 1894.